There is a Silence
by BigHair
Summary: Team 7 is assigned to protect a girl who is a witness to her mother's murder. Only problem: she's mute. But Sakura is able to talk to her through sign language. A sisterly bond grows between the two as they discover that their pasts are the same. sasusaku
1. little Hina's words

yo! yeah, i just figured this story out while i was on vacation in missouri. actually, we were going to missouri and i figured it out while passing through arkansas. so...just read!!! plz! and just for the record everyone is thirteen! well except for the adults...and the seven year old.

_'thinking'_

"talking"

"sign language" 

(author talking! listen to my words!)

disclaimer: you know i don't own it. sniff. but i wish i did! wah!...alright, that's enough of that.

**chapter 1: little Hina's words...**

It was a bright summer afternoon in the village of Konoha when Tsunade reported Team seven and Kakashi to the Hokage tower for an important mission.

"Come in." Tsunade called in a slurred voice when they knocked on the door. She was obviously drunk.

The team walked in her office to find several empty sake bottles on her desk. Yep. She was drunk.

"Well, it's about time." Tsunade complained. "What took you so long? And _don't _tell me it was Kakashi."

"But it was!!" Naruto replied.

"Sorry." Kakashi said. "I got lost on the path of life."

"LIAR!!" Naruto shouted as he pointed an accusing finger at his teacher.

"Would you be quiet?" Shizune demanded.

Everyone looked at her as if she had just grown two heads.

"You're scaring her." She pointed behind her to a small girl clutching Shizune's legs.

She appeared to be about seven. She wore denim shorts that went to her knees and a white hoody, had staight brown hair that went to above the middle of her back, and had big, bright and very scared blue eyes.

Sakura looked into those blue eyes. She knew that look. That feeling. She didn't know how, but she did.

"This is Hina." Tsunade explained. She had come out of her drunken state and grew serious. "Unfourtunetly, she's been a witness to her mother's murder since she was three. And the ninja who committed the murder have been after her since. You four need to protect her by all means nessecary until you find the ninja and kill them. Afterwards, you may escort her home to her home village. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am!" All four ninja said in unison.

"There's just one problem." Tsunade said slowly.

"What's that?" Sasuke asked.

"We didn't figure all this out from Hina. There was a villager who had information on her."

The team stared at her, still unaware of the problem.

"She's mute. She can't speak at all." Tsunade explained.

All eyes widened at hearing this new information.

"Oh...how terrible it must be. To not be able to speak at all." Sakura said with sympthy.

"Well, it's not all bad." Tsunade assured. "She can speak in sign language, but we haven't the slightest clue to what she's saying."

Sakura perked up and looked at Hina. Then Tsunade.

"Sign language?" She asked. Tsunade nodded.

Sakura smiled and walked over to Hina. Shizune pulled the shy girl from out behind her and gentley gave an encouraging push towards Sakura. Hina stared up at the pink-haired girl with wide shy eyes. Sakura crouched down to Hina's level and smiled sweetly at her.

"Hello Hina. My name is Sakura. I can speak in sign language too." Sakura said with her hands.

All eyes widened. Everyone was amazed at the fact that she could speak sign language so efficiently and so professionaly. Even Hina. Her mouth gaped open as if she had never seen another person who could speak like her. She probably never did.

"Hi Sakura. You speak sign language too?!" Hina said, or rather, gestered with astonishment.

Sakura nodded. "There's nothing to worry about, Hina. We're gonna take good care of you. Kay?"

Hina hesitated, but slowly nodded.

"Well, now that that's settled, where are we supposed to find these ninja?" Kakashi asked cooly as Sakura stood up.

"They were last seen on the path that leads to the Sound village." Tsunade explained. "You need to track them down as soon as possible but you must keep Hina with you at all times, even when you confront the ninja. So you better keep her out of harm's way! Got it?!"

Tsunade used the evil tone in her voice for whenever she was giving out a warning. And everyone immediately knew what she meant, which frightened them greatly.

"Yes ma'am!" They said in unison, with a hint of nervousness in their voices.

"Yeah! Don't worry Hina! We're gonna be best friends!! Believe it!" Naruto shouted.

Hina's eyes widened with fear as she ran behind Sakura. She seemed to have taken a liking to her in the last two minutes. Sakura noticed Hina's fear and shot a death glare at Naruto.

"What? What'd I do??" He asked.

"Let's go, Baka." Sasuke said cooly as he dragged Naruto out by the ear. Obviously saving him from a world of hurt.

Sakura held her hand out for Hina to take, which she hesitantly did.

"He scares me." Hina gestered.

"It's okay. He scares everybody once in a while. But you'll learn to like him." Sakura assured her. Then hand-in-hand, they followed the boys out the door.

TBC...

oookaaaaayyyyyy...i'm gonna hafta sign off for now. my mom's acting really weird...we're in our condo in branson right now and she's looking around for a fly with a flyswatter going, "Here, fly-fly-fly-fly-fly...!" in a singsong voice. it's really creeping me out...so plz review to take my mind off of this weirdness! oh, and tell me if you want SasSaku fluff later in the story! sorry, i just love writing SasSaku fics!


	2. On the path

hey my wunnerful viewers! even though it's only two viewers so far...but it's enough to keep me writing!!! course, i might have more viewers by the time i post this...but anyhoo...one viewer said that they'd rather not have me put sasusaku fluff in here and the other said that they did. so if i do in the future it won't be in this chapter. i'll just wait and see what other people think. not that i don't care what my other viewers think! plz don't take it the wrong way! i'm always doing that! i say stuff, but i say it wrong so people take it the wrong way and i end up getting hurt! lol!

_'thinking'_

"talking"

"sign language"

(author talking! listen to my words!)

disclaimer: i don't own naruto but i DO own hina! not Love Hina. completely different series.

**chapter 2: down the path...**

The team separated to go to their houses and pack, only to meet back up later. Sakura took Hina to her house for obvious reasons. One, she was the only one who can talk to her. Two, Hina didn't really seem to like the others that much. Three, Hina just sorta followed her anyway because of number two.

"So Hina," Sakura started as they walked towards her house. "Do you have anything with you? I mean, like supplies and stuff."

"No. Nothing. All I have is the spare money in my pocket." Hina signed.

Sakura was slightly stunned. She had nothing. Nothing at all but the clothes on her back and the money in her pocket. But then she got an idea.

"Well, that's all right. I've got some things that you can use. I even have a backpack that'll fit you. That sound good?"

Hina hesitated and looked up at Sakura. "Yeah." Then she looked back straight ahead until they reached Sakura's house.

-

The two girls sat on the bed in Sakura's room, packing their bags. Her room was on the second floor and it wasn't big, but it wasn't small. One wall of her room was one huge window that lead out to a balcony so she could see all of Konoha. Her bed sat against the wall on the right side of the window, and across the bed stood a drawing desk with several paintings scattered around it.

Hina looked around the room admiringly. It reminded her much of her old room. Then she looked over at Sakura. She wondered...how did she know sign language? She didn't seem to have any use for it. But she was grateful to have somebody to talk to. She hadn't really talked to anyone in a long time. But for some reason, she couldn't think of anything to talk about.

Sakura noticed Hina looking at her and said, "What is it? Something wrong?"

Hina shook her head. "No. Nothing's wrong. It's just that...I haven't been able to talk to anyone in a long time. And now that I've found someone that can understand me...I can't think of anything to talk about."

Sakura giggled. "That's actually pretty normal. It happens to everyone. Like when you put your car keys somewhere and you always pass it and you always see it, but when you actually have to use them, you forget where they are. It's something like that."

Hina nodded, signalizing that she understood. She started to resume her packing, but something was eating away at her, something that she wanted to ask Sakura.

"Sakura?" She asked.

"Yeah?"

"Sakura...how do you know--"

"SAKURA-CHAN!!! HINA-CHAN!!! LET'S GO!!! WE GOTTA MOVE!!!!" Naruto's loud obnoxious voice came from outside Sakura's room, interrupting Hina's question.

Sakura glared at the window. (A/N: course, she was really glaring at naruto. i mean what weird person would glare at a window??)

"Ugh, that Naruto." She groaned.

Hina looked up at Sakura with sad puppy dog eyes. "Sakura...he's really scary."

Sakura looked at her as if she was foaming at the mouth and started reinacting the Old Yeller-getting-rabies scene.

"Scary?" She asked. "Why is he scary? I thought before you weren't really dead serious like you are now."

"It's because he's really loud. I hate loud noises. They scare me."

"Why do they--"

"SAKURA!!!"

Sakura went over to the balcony and looked down to see Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi waiting for them.

"Alright, we're coming!" She called back to Naruto, careful not to yell loudly at him like she usually does. Then she looked back at Hina, who was staring at the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Sorry Hina. Our conversation will have to wait til later."

Hina slowly raised her head and nodded. Then she headed for the door, but not until Sakura came up beside her so she could take her hand.

Sakura looked down at the small girl holding her hand as they walked.

_'Man, she's really uncomfortable with the others. And in turn it's made her so comfortable around me, that she's always holding my hand, even though we only met an hour ago. Why is she so scared?' _She thought.

Naruto was tapping his foot impatiently when the two girls made it outside.

"Finally!! What took ya?!" He shouted.

Hina, without letting go of her hand, ran behind Sakura at the sound of Naruto's loud voice. Sakura turned her head around to look at Hina's wide frightened eyes, then turned back to glare at Naruto.

"Naruto, could you just be quiet for once?" She said in an angry tone.

"What? What'd I do?? I'm always loud." He defended.

Before Sakura could go on an uncontrollable rampage, Kakashi stepped in.

"Okay, before anyone gets hurt," He said refering to Naruto. "Let's get started on this mission. Tsunade said that we are to venture to where the nin were last seen, which just happens to be the path that leads to the Sound Village. So we're gonna have to be extremely cautious on this mission. It could very well be an A-rank."

Sasuke smirked at hearing this. He certainly loved a challange.

"Hn. I'm liking this mission already." He said with a smirk.

"Sounds good. And Hina will be safe all the way as long as we're here." Sakura said in an assuring voice.

"I'm ready! BELIEVE IT-- MMPH?!"

"Shh!" Sasuke and Sakura shushed him with both of their hands on his mouth.

They looked and noticed that Sasuke's hand was on top of Sakura's. Sakura blushed massively, jerked her hand back and turned around before anyone could see it. But when she turned around, the blush was exposed to Hina. She knew immediately what was going on when she saw the blush plastered on Sakura's face, and shook her head in an annoyed way. She wasn't old enough to really understand love anyway.

Then, without any further interruptions, they departed from the village.

-

After a while of walking along the forest path, the red-orange sun began to set on the horizon, signalizing that it was getting late.

"Can we stop no-o-o-ow??" Naruto whined.

"No, Naruto. Not yet. There is still some sun out. We will stop at nightfall." Kakashi said firmly.

"But my feet hu-u-u-urt!" He whined again.

"Hmph. Wimp." Sasuke scoffed.

An anime vein popped out of Naruto's forehead at hearing Sasuke's comment.

"Who's a wimp? I'm no wimp! I could go all night!" Naruto exclaimed as he started to fast-walk and trailed ahead of the others.

Sasuke glared at him and went to go catch up, only to pass him. Sakura smiled at them. Those two are always pushing each other.

Then she felt a small tug at her shirt. She looked down to see Hina looking back at her with questioning eyes.

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

"Why do those two always fight?" Hina signed.

Sakura smiled at the young girl's question. "Well, to tell you the truth, those two have always been good for each other. Always pushing each other to the next level, challanging each other, getting stronger, and always looking for that final showdown to prove which one of them is the best."

Hina stared at her, kind of understanding the answer that Sakura gave her.

"I see." Was all she signed.

-

After about twenty more minutes of walking, darkness began to fall over them. Hina slightly staggered as she walked alongside Sakura. She was obviously tired. Kakashi noticed this and asked her,

"Hina, would you like for me to carry you so you don't have to walk?"

Hina shook her head and signed something. Kakashi looked at Sakura for an answer.

"She said no. She's fine." Sakura explained.

Kakashi nodded in response and turned back around. But a few seconds after he did, they heard a soft thud. They turned and saw Hina lying on the ground, silently snoring.

"Whoa! Hey, is she all right?" Naruto asked with panic in his voice.

"She's fine." Sasuke said. "She's just tired."

"Yeah, she'll be fine." Sakura said as she gingerly picked up Hina.

They walked a little ways more until Kakashi felt it was time stop and set up camp.

TBC...

well, i think i'll stop here for now...oh, don't give me that look. i'll update soon. i promise! plz don't hate me! wah! ... okay, that's enough of that. but anyhoo...i'll think of some sasusaku fluff to put in the story. that is if you guys want sasusaku fluff, which i'm sure you do! winkwinknudge. lol! but until then, stay tuned and plz review!


	3. a shoulder to sleep on

hey guys! sorry i haven't updated in a while! sniff. sc-sc-sch...i can't say it!

older cousin: say it... say it! ... SAY IT!!

me: okay! i'll say it! just no more noogies! plz!! ... SCHOOL STARTED BACK!!! NNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so i've been caught up in all the new school year crap and stush like that. stush is my little cousin's word! ain't it cute?! anyhoo...thanx for the wunnerful reviews! here's a lollipop.

_'thinking'_

"talking"

"sign language"

(author talking! listen to my words!)

disclaimer: i don't own naruto, but i DO own my own manga series that WILL be published in book stores near you...in about 20 years... -.-' maybe...it depends on what the publishers say...if not, SCREW THEM!!!!

**chapter 3: a shoulder to sleep on... **

"You sure you don't want some beef ramen, Sakura?" Naruto asked, shoving a bowl of ramen in Sakura's face. She made a face of disgust.

"Ugh. _No _Naruto. For the eleventh time, I _hate _beef ramen." She replied in an annoyed tone as she pushed the bowl away from her face.

Everybody was sitting around a bright fire, eating whatever ramen Naruto brought along. Kakashi decided that he should take watch first, then Naruto, then Sasuke and then Sakura, and it would just rotate from there. Sakura looked over at the sleeping Hina, silently snoring beside her. She reached over and gingerly brushed a piece of her bangs out of her eyes, and started stroking her soft hair in a comforting manner. Hina slightly flinched, but soon fell into a deeper sleep.

Sasuke looked over at Sakura stroking the young girl's hair and smiled a little.

"She sure seems to like that." He said.

Sakura looked over at him. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"If anybody else were to so much as touch her while she's in a sleep like that, she would've woken up instantly. But you started stroking her hair, and all she did was flinch. You must have a way with kids." He explained with his famous smirk plastered on his drop-dead-gorgeous face.

Sakura blushed at Sasuke's compliment. _'He noticed! I can't believe it- he noticed something about me!'_ She thought excitedly.

-

_later that night..._

"Sakura..."

_'Hmm?? Who is that?' _

"Sakura...Wake up."

_'Mmmm...Well, _whoever _it is, they have such a _sexy _voice...'_

"Sakura...!"

She suddnely felt herself being gentley thrashed around, and slowly and sleepily she opened her eyes.

Sasuke's onyx eyes clashed with her emerald ones, and she blushed massively. Probably mostly because he was hovering over her.

"S-Sasuke...Wha-What is it?" Sakura asked nervously.

"It's 2 am. Your turn to stand watch." He answered cooly.

"Oh...o-okay." She said.

Sakura intended to gracefully stand up and walk over to her post, but instead she clumsily stumbled forward. She closed her eyes tightly for impact but it never came. Sakura slowly opened her eyes to see the ground a few feet from her face. She turned her head and looked up to see that she was embraced in Sasuke's strong arms.

Onyx and emarald crashed and locked.

Both teammates blushed madly at the position they were in.

"Uhh..." Sakura said slowly.

"..." Sasuke didn't say anything; the blush said it all.

He gingerly propped her up to her feet and took a few steps back towards a safe distance. They stared at each other for a few more seconds before turning away and going to their posts. Sasuke went to his sleeping bag and gingerly laid down face-up. He raised his head to watch Sakura walk over towards a stump to sit on as she stood watch. Sasuke was about to lay his head back down to go to sleep when he suddenly heard a slight movement from Sakura's direction. He looked up, and found Sakura slumped over in a deep sleep. She was obviously _not _a morning person.

Sasuke groaned in annoyance as he staggered up and walked towards Sakura. When he reached her, he bent down and brought his face lower than Sakura's so he could look back up at her. Yep. She was _definetely _out of it.

"Sakura..." He whispered.

No reaction.

_"Sakura..." _

The only sound that came from her was her silent snoring.

Sasuke put his face closer to Sakura's.

_"Sakura...! Wake up!" _He whispered loudly. He reached his hand out and gentley cupped her tender angelic face. his thumb slowly and gingerly stroked her cheek, in attempt to wake her up. She flinched slightly, and her eyes fluttered open, only to see Sasuke Uchiha's face mere inches from her's.

"Sasuke...!" She gasped. "Wha-What is it??"

"Alright, you can't be trusted. I'm standing watch with you." Sasuke replied cooly as he stood up.

Sakura blushed. "Did...did I fall asleep?"

"Yeah. You were _out. _I was starting to think that the only thing that was gonna wake you up was if I kissed you or something."

"...!!"

"...!!"

They both blushed crimson.

_'OH CRAP!! Was I thinking out loud?!' _Sasuke thought frantically.

"Uhh-uhh...forget I said anything!" He replied quickly.

"Uh, r-right! right..." Sakura said unsurely.

Sasuke slowly sat down on the hard ground beside the stump where Sakura sat uncomfortablely, because her crush was sitting right next to her. Sakura looked down at him and noticed that he wasn't very comfortable. Course, he didn't show it, but girls notice things like that.

"Wouldn't you rather sit here?" She asked hesitantly.

Sasuke looked up at her, somewhat a little confused.

"What?" He asked.

"It's just that...you look uncomfortable sitting on the ground."

"No, it's okay. I'm fine." Sasuke replied in monotone.

Sakura scowled at Sasuke's stubborness, and she slowly slid down from the stump and sat beside him.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked in a confused tone.

"Well, it's not fair that you have to sit on the hard ground and not me. I'm sitting with you."

Sasuke was annoyed at Sakura for being stubborn, but he didn't say anything.

-

After a few hours of staying up and keeping watch, Sasuke was starting to become thouroughly exhausted. He had stayed up far longer than he should have. It probably wasn't a good idea on account of the fact that he would be _way _too tired during the day to fight any enemies, if they should happen to come across them. But he really didn't have a choice; Sakura would've slept through her shift if he didn't stay up with her. Speaking of which, he was surprised that she didn't fall asleep yet.

Sakura let out a very tired yawn.

Spoke too soon.

"Hey, you getting tired?" Sasuke asked her.

"Ahh...kinda..." Sakura yawned. "You?"

"...No...ahhh...not in the least." He yawned sleepily.

Suddenly he felt a soft figure gingerly land on his shoulder. He looked over, and found Sakura's head rested upon his shoulder. Sasuke blushed at the sight of her sleeping.

"Sakura..." He gentlely shook her, in hopes to wake her up. Her eyes fluttered a little and opened halfway.

"Mmmm...Sasuke..." She moaned sleepily. "I'm sleeping..."

The sound of her voice comforted Sasuke. It was so soothing that his eyes started to droop. His head slowly sank until it reached the top of Sakura's soft pink-haired head. He buried his face into her hair and deeply inhaled its scent, which had the smell of strawberries. Then he fell into a deep sleep.

TBC...

how's THAT for fluff?! hah? (it's like from drake and josh! instead of saying "huh?" josh would say "hah?" i love that show!) anyhoo... i will add much better fluff later in the story! trust me!

older cuz: i wouldn't do that.

shut up!!! don't listen to him!! anyhoo... plz review!!


	4. ambushed!

hello my wunnerful viewers! and here's chappie 4!!! sorry it took me a really long time to update! i'm not very good at describing fighting scenes...that's why it took me forever to write it. -.-' ehehe... sorry

"talking"

_'thinking'_

"sign language"

(author talking! listen to my words!)

disclaimer: I. DON'T. OWN. NARUTO. don't ask me again!!!!!!

**chapter 4: ambushed!**

Sasuke awoke to the warm feeling of sunlight beating down upon his face. But what he found when he woke, he really didn't see coming. He was lying on the ground with Sakura on top of him, tightly and securely wrapped in his strong arms, as her arms were wrapped around him. Their legs intwined with each other, with Sasuke's right leg casted over Sakura's left. Her head rested soundly on his chest as her back lifted up and down in the rhythem of her breathing, which made Sasuke blush massively at the sight of her angelic face on his chest.

"Well, it's about time you woke up." Came the sound of Kakashi's voice.

Sasuke quickly looked up from upside down to see Kakashi looking back down at him.

"Have a good sleep, Sasuke?" He asked with a grin plastered on his face. Well, at least that's what Sasuke figured. He couldn't tell from the mask. (A/N: are they EVER gonna see his face?! seriously!)

Sasuke glared at his teacher in annoyance. Then he slowly sat up with Sakura still in his arms, so she was now sitting, or rather sleeping, in his lap. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and her head was still resting on his chest as she snuggled closer to him.

Sasuke blushed even more, and tried to gentlely pry her off him.

"Sakura...wake up." He whispered in her ear. She flinched slightly, but refused to budge.

"Uh, Sakura..." He whispered again as he tried to pull her off.

"No..." Sakura moaned sleepily. "Don't go...Keep me warm." She hugged him tighter.

Sasuke's whole face turned even more crimson, if possibe.

Kakashi was silently laughing at the scene. He'd love nothing more than to watch his toughest student squirm uncomfortablely in the hands of his secret crush. (A/N: yeah, he kinda figured it out a long time ago.) But despite his enjoyment, he decided to help Sasuke out. Especially when he saw that Hina had awaken and was looking around frantically for Sakura.

He bent down to the two genins' level and said,

"Sakura, Hina's looking for you."

Sakura's eye's instantly popped open at the sound of Hina's name. She looked up at Sasuke and realized that she was sitting in his lap and her arms were wrapped around his neck. And of course, she blushed crimson. Then she looked at Kakashi with questioning eyes.

"Did you say that Hina was looking for me?" She asked. Kakashi nodded and pointed to the panicking girl, who was not feeling any better with Naruto trying to cheer her up.

Sakura looked back at Sasuke and slowly unhooked her arms from his neck, their eyes never leaving each other's gaze. She awkwardly stood up from her crush's lap and quickly walked over to Hina.

When Sakura reached the panicking child, Naruto was trying his absolute best to calm her down.

"Hina!" She called.

Hina jerked her head towards Sakura and ran over to her. She looked up at the pink-haired kunoichi with wide sad eyes.

"I couldn't find you! Where did you go?" Hina signed frantically.

Sakura looked at Naruto, then at Sasuke and Kakashi, who were listening intently.

"I was asleep...with Sasuke. And I just woke up, so there's nothing to worry about. I promise I will _never _leave you." Sakura signed assuringly with a smile to match.

"You promise?" Hina asked with a hopeful expression.

Sakura nodded.

Hina looked at Sakura with eyes still sad, walked closer to her and laid her head on the kunoichi's stomach.

Sakura looked around awkwardly and patted Hina on the back.

The small child pulled back and looked at Sakura once more.

"Sakura...one more thing?" She asked.

"What?"

"Could you tell Naruto that for the eleventh time, I hate beef ramen?"

"But he can't understand what your saying."

"I wrote it down."

Sakura stared at her for a few seconds before she started giggling.

But little did they all know that several pairs of evil eyes were watching from close by.

-

Around 9 oclock in the morning they packed up camp and continued to cautiously walk along the path, carefully watching for any enemies who should happen to come by.

Hina was walking closer to Sakura than she usually did. Sakura looked down at her confusingly.

_'What's wrong with her?' _She thought._ 'She seems really scared about something...I wonder what.' _

Suddenly, Hina clutched Sakura's leg, as if holding on for dear life and started frantically tugging at her shirt.

"Hina! What's wrong?!" Sakura asked in a panicky voice.

Kakashi already knew. She was sensing something: something dangerous. Dangerous enough to strike unimaginable fear in the innocent heart of a young child, such as Hina.

"Guys! Get in position! And stay alert." Kakashi commanded. They knew immediately what was about to happen.

"Yeah! I'm ready for action! Believe it!" Naruto shouted as he took out a kunai.

"Alright loser. Keep it down and focus." Sasuke snapped coldly.

Sakura kneeled down by Hina and tried to calm her down.

"Hina, it's going to be okay; you'll be alright. You hear me?"

Hina was shaking violently despite Sakura's comforting words. She couldn't even sign anything straight.

"Just stay close to me." Sakura told her as she took out two kunai. She quickly handed one to Hina.

"Ever use one of these before?"

Hina shook her head violently. "How do I know when to use it?"

"Don't worry; you'll know." Sakura smirked. "But it's only in case we get separated."

Hina grew even more scared, but she didn't show it.

A dark, sinster figure suddenly formed behind the two girls. Before Hina could tug on Sakura's shirt to warn her, the pink-haired kunoichi had quickly turned and sent the figure flying in the opposite direction with one massive kick. But as soon as the figure hit the ground, it disappeared.

"It was a--"

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto interrupted Sakura, but that _was _what she was gonna say.

She turned around to find ten Narutos fighting off ten dark figures. (A/N: i'm not very good at describing battle scenes, so forgive me if it sucks!)

Sasuke quickly activated his sharingan and began to attack another figure running towards him with massive speed. The figure raised a dark fist to punch Sasuke, but because of the young Uchiha's blood-red sharingan eyes, he was easily able to block the hit and twirl the figure around to throw it towards Sakura.

Sakura had picked up a very large fallen tree branch and signaled Sasuke to throw the enemy her way. He did what his female teammate told him and thrust the dark enemy hard towards her. Hina watched with utter amazement as Sakura pulled the branch over her shoulder and swung at the figure so hard that it sent it flying into the next deminsion. Both teammates smiled in enjoyment.

"Hey Sakura! Sasuke! Havin' a ball? Haha!" (A/N: cue rim shot.)

Sakura threw the branch at Naruto's head and hit it dead on.

"Naruto, quit fooling around!" she yelled.

"She's right, dobe! Get up!" Sasuke agreed.

Naruto staggered up in annoyance, rubbing the giant bump on his head. "Grrr...fine. Whatever." he grumbled.

Kakashi fought off the last clone by roughly thrusting a kunai into its back. As it disappeared, everybody looked around for more attacks. There were none.

"They were just clones; the real ones have already run off." Sasuke pointed out. "But why?"

"I don't even think the real ninja were here to begin with." said Naruto.

"Sensei, why is that?" Sakura asked her teacher.

Kakashi said nothing for a few minutes until he finally answered hesitantly: "They probably figured that we're just a waste of their time, that we're not worth the trouble. So they sent clones instead."

"So in other words, these guys must be pretty tough, huh?" Naruto said.

"Yeah. This is definetely an A-rank mission." Kakashi answered grimly.

Hina clutched Sakura's leg and started shaking violently. The kunoichi looked down at her sympthetically; she'd never seen a child so frightened before...well, not since...herself.

TBC...

well, how's that? did it suck? was it good? plz be gentle with the reviews. because if you don't...you'll be hourting my feewings...sniff. (makes sad puppydog eyes) p.q


	5. where hath been no sound

YAY!!! you guys are so-o-o-o-o-o nice!! and for your being niceness, here's the next chapter!!! and i'm sorry for updating so late!! it's skool i tell ya!!!!! grrrr...

"talking"

_'thinking'_

"sign language"

(author talking! listen to my words!)

disclaimer: if you ask me if i own naruto one more time, I'M GONNA COME TO YOUR HOUSE AND DO TERRIBLE THINGS TO YOU WITH A CHEESE GRATER!!!!!! jk!!

**chapter 5: where hath been no sound...**

The fire which everyone sat around in silence that night burned brightly against the dark night sky with an firey amber glow as Hina sat closely to Sakura in fear. Suddenly it occured to Sakrua that they had never finished their conversation before they left the village. Not really wanting the guys to hear, she nudged Hina and started to sign.

"Hina?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry; I just realized that we never finished our conversation before we left. So what was it that you wanted to ask me?"

Hina hesitated for a minute as she stared at the ground as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

She looked up at Sakura.

"I...wanted to know how...you know sign language." she signed as a blush creeped along her young angelic face. She felt a little ashamed and embarrassed for asking such a personal question. Though she knew asking someone how they knew sign language isn't really personal, she had a strange feeling that it was.

At first Sakura just laughed.

"Hina, I have never seen a child who's ears could turn so red so quick!" she laughed, which made Hina turn even pinker as she quickly turned her attention back towards the ground.

Sakura noticed the guys looking at them with confused expressions on their faces and wondering why the seven year old was suddenly a deep crimson.

"Oh, sorry." she whispered apologetically to Hina.

The young girl didn't lift her head, but gave a little nod.

Sakura was about to sign something else when she saw that the guys were still staring at them. With a glare in her jade eyes and a wave of her hand, she shooed them off and signaled them to mind their own business. Immediately they turned away.

Hina looked back up when she felt Sakura's elbow come in gentle contact with her arm.

"You don't have to be embarrassed." Sakura assured. "I don't mind telling you."

Hina hesitated. "So...it _is _personal?"

Sakura's smile faded as her green eyes saddened.

"Like I said: I don't mind telling you."

Hina then gave the kunoichi her undivided attention to listen to the story.

-

"Hey teme. What do you think they're talking about?"

"Who knows?"

-

"I never told anyone this before, but...my mother was mute. Just like you." Sakura signed.

Hina's eyes widened. She had taken a liking to Sakura because she could talk to her, but she never imagined that she could actually _relate _to her. Even a little bit, maybe.

" 'Was?' "

Sakura nodded sadly.

"I guess I should start at the beginning."

_**flashback...**_

A small pink-haired girl sat by her mother on a hard uncomfortable train bench as they waited to get to their destination.

"Mother, are we there yet?" asked a seven year old Sakura.

A tall woman with long dark-brown hair tied in a french braid that had bright green eyes turned to look at her young daughter.

"No, my young cherry blossom. Not yet." she signed with a gorgeous smile.

Sakura sighed deeply and loudly in impatience as she clinged tighter to a stuffed white and blonde rabbit in her arms. Her mother looked over at the rabbit.

"Sakura, why don't you put up Ayamo for now until we get to our new home? You wouldn't want her to get dirty."

Sakura ignored her mother's question and didn't bother to answer it, but instead brought up a new question.

"Mama? This man that lives in Konoha, the place that we're going...is he gonna be my new daddy?"

The young girl's big green, sad eyes stared through her pink bangs and into her mother's green eyes. Her expression was unreadable, no matter how hard Sakura tried to find a hint of emotion at all.

"Sakura," she signed. "You know that _no one _can replace your father." And she left it at that.

The young rosette-haired girl turned her attention towards her rabbit, whose black eyes stared blankly into hers. She should've known better; her mother never liked to talk about her deceased husband, Sakura's father. But she had so many questions about him and wanted the answers very badly, but she knew that she would not get them from her mother.

A few hours later the train had stopped at a station in the far side of Konoha. Sakura eagerly followed her mother outside to meet the man who was supposed to be her new father. Though she was not happy about it, she and her mother now had a place to call home once again. Two years earlier, Sakura's father had died in a horrifying accident. Their house had caught fire as soon as lightning struck it which also caused the house to rapidly come apart with half the roof falling to the floor. Her father was pinned down by burning wood after he'd gotten his wife and child out, but unfortunetly he suffered in the burning fire.

But Sakura had also lost a close friend in the fire along with her father: a native American woman named Acoona who became very close to Sakura. Though she was only five at the time, she has a clear and full memory of Acoona and her father. And that day changed her forever.

Suddenly Sakura's mother took her hand and quickly walked over to a tall man with two coats and brunette hair. It was the man that her mother was to wed. He was very handsome and looked...kind.

"Hello." he said with a smile. "I'm Kaname. You must be Mitsumi and Sakura."

Her mother smiled and signed something in response.

"She said 'It's nice to finally meet you.' " Sakura translated.

Kaname smiled at her. "My, my! You know sign language very well for a child of your age. I'm impressed. Do you know any other languages?"

Sakura frowned and looked away from Kaname. Only because of a mere question, she no longer wanted anything to do with him.

Mitsumi's smile faded as she took out a pad of paper and a ballpoint pen. She wrote something down and handed it to Kaname, seeing as Sakura won't be translating for him for a while. It read:

_"She knows indian. But she doesn't like to talk about it. We had a native American friend stay with us for a while and she taught Sakura her language, but she died in a fire along with my husband." _

Kaname's handsme face saddened as he read the slip of white paper. He knelt down to Sakura's level.

"Sakura," he said sympathetically. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. Please don't be mad at me."

The stubborn five year old didn't look at him, but instead turned her whole body around, her back now facing him. This rude action of Sakura's caused her to receive a scolding smack across her upper arm from her mother. Sakura looked up at her mother with questioning eyes as she gingerly stroked her sore arm.

"Don't be so rude! This man is supposed to provide a home for us! You can't just turn your back on him!" she signed angrily.

"Watch me." Sakura signed back with twice as much anger in her eyes and started to walk off, not caring where she should end up.

Infuriated, her mother grabbed her child's arm before she could run off and roughly swung her around to where her face was now inches from Kaname's. Sakura knew what her mother wanted. She wanted her to apologize to him, but she wouldn't do it if she were dipped in acid and devoured by a swarm of rabid bats. Kaname suddenly stood up to Mitsumi's level.

"It's all right; she doesn't have to apologize." he said. "I understand what it's like to lose a loved one."

Mitsumi frowned at hearing this.

"But don't worry; she'll come around." Kaname assured. "Now come along. It'll be dark soon."

Mitsumi and Sakura followed behind the man to their new home, not knowing the tragedy that would await.

TBC...

hope you guys liked this chappy! i'll try my hardest to update soon!! and remember, the more you review the faster i'll update!!


End file.
